Sony's upcoming PlayStation Vita console will only survive between three and five hours of gaming before the battery runs dry, according to battery life specs released from Sony.

The Vita, which packs a mammoth 5-inch display and two analogue sticks, won't last more than five hours while you're gaming, and will muster about five hours if you're playing video.

If you're playing music in stand-by mode then you can expect about nine hours before the Vita starts squealing for its charging cable. Those estimates appear to be with screen brightness set to default, Bluetooth turned off and while using headphones.

The figures are disappointing, and mean that the Vita won't be much use on long flights, and if you're being subjected to a long drive across the country with your family, you'll probably have to break out the travel Scrabble before you've made it past Watford Gap.

So how does the Vita measure up against Nintendo's 3DS console in the battery stakes? Well, probably about the same -- when we gunned the 3DS at full brightness with the Wi-Fi connection active, we squeezed about three hours of game time out of the glasses-free 3D handheld.

But two wrongs don't make a right. The 3DS has rubbish battery life, and the fact that the Vita is shaping up to be just as pants away from the mains doesn't impress us one bit.

Sony and Nintendo should be on their guard. Both are facing competition from the likes of Apple, who's iPod touch would appear to offer marginally better battery life than the Vita -- Apple reckons you'll get 7 hours of video playback compared to the Vita's five. Not to mention that an iPod touch offers thousands of downloadable games for less than a quid.

If you're set on aquiring Sony's new console, we'd recommend dialling down the brightness, and turning off things like Bluetooth or 3G if you want to conserve battery life. We also learned today that the Vita takes 2 hours and 40 minutes to fully charge for zero power.

Does this put you off the Vita? Or are you not fussed? Let us know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.

About the author

Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
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